Strings Attached: Friends With Benefits Relationships in the Media

            In the movie No Strings Attached, the two main characters decide to enter into a “friends with benefits” relationship. Like the characters of Sex and the City who attempt to have sex like men, Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher) initiate a relationship for the sole purpose of sexual satisfaction (Markle, 46). Initially their agreement appears to reflect post-feminist ideals because Emma does not conform to the more traditional sexual scripts of a woman. Rather than waiting to be chosen by a man, she demands the kind of behavior she requires Adam to display. In this regard, the audience can see a kind of sexual script reversal where Adam pursues a deeper emotional connection and Emma pushes him away. Like Sex and the City, one may initially think that this kind of media content empowers women by removing them from traditional feminine roles. Similar to the popular TV show, however, by the end of No Strings Attached Emma abandons the idea of “having sex like a man” in favor of a committed and loving relationship (Markle, 56).

        Around this time several other movies came out with similar themes (e.g. Friends with Benefits). In the end, the women always craved something more than a sexual relationship. This, I believe, actually reinforces more traditional female sexual scripts. Instead of showing women who can break free from these customary roles without regret, they show that women ultimately giving into their natural “need” to be in a relationship. Further, the women who fight being in a relationship are somehow punished for it. In No Strings Attached, Emma suffers for months after she refuses to be in a relationship with Adam. Ultimately, movies such as No Strings Attached can not be deemed as postfeminist because in the end they reinforce traditional sexual roles. 

Markle, G. (2008). “Can women have sex like a man?”: Sexual scripts in Sex and the City. Sexuality & Culture, 12(1), 45-57.